Naz Reid, Timberwolves bury Mavericks: ‘We’ve got a lot of weapons’
DALLAS — American Airlines Center is a throwback arena in some respects, offering media one of the closest and best seats in a league that has seen many teams move writers and broadcasters to spots much higher, so they can maximize profits of those coveted spots nearest the court.
Sitting at half court just behind the scorer’s table on Thursday night for a matchup of the Nos. 1 and 3 teams in the Western Conference provided the opportunity to hear the trash talk, smell the sweat being poured and see the whites of the Dallas Mavericks’ eyes dull as the Minnesota Timberwolves slowly and steadily squeezed the life out of them.
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So many of the Timberwolves’ games have played out similarly this season as the best start in franchise history has unfolded. A shaky start begets a solid second quarter to stabilize the game. A dominant third quarter shell shocks the opponent, who then flails in the fourth under increasing pressure.
The 119-101 win over Dallas on Thursday night was the most visceral example of that pattern yet. The Mavericks, with the third-ranked offense in the league and fresh off a stirring victory over the red-hot Los Angeles Lakers, exploded out of the gates. Luka Dončić was getting whatever he wanted, scoring 12 points and hitting all four of his shots going plus-15 in the first three minutes to shred the No. 1 defense in the league. Before the Wolves even knew what hit them, they were down 17-2.
“It was on like Donkey Kong,” Wolves assistant coach Micah Nori said.
Dončić was feeling it, shaking his head at Jaden McDaniels, who some believe is the closest thing there is in the league to a Luka stopper, and getting him to pick up two early fouls. Grant Williams was hitting 3-pointers, Dereck Lively II was catching lobs and the Mavs looked like they were ready to run circles around the bigger Wolves defense.
Then the squeezing started. Over the final seven minutes of Dončić’s first shift of the game, he scored four points, went 2 of 6 from the field, turned the ball over twice and Minnesota outscored Dallas by nine points to get the deficit to a manageable 30-26 at the end of the first quarter. Dallas got up 12 3-pointers in the first quarter but only made four of them. Williams missed his final four from deep in the period and the looks in the Mavericks’ eyes went from cocksure to concerned.
In the second quarter, the Wolves eliminated the 3 from the Mavericks’ arsenal. They entered the game shooting almost 11 3s per quarter but managed only six attempts over those 12 minutes. All but two of them clanked. Some were open looks, but most were contested by the long arms of McDaniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naz Reid and the rest of the Wolves defense. Dallas still shot 55 percent from the field in the quarter, but they were taking the shots the Wolves wanted them to take, wrestling control of the pace and dictating the rules of engagement.
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Through it all, coach Chris Finch kept waiting for the offense to catch up. Anthony Edwards, playing after missing almost all four of the previous five games with a hip pointer, was 2 of 11 in the first half. McDaniels was 1 of 4.
Thankfully for the Wolves, Reid brought his flamethrower to Dallas. The big man was 5 of 6 from deep in the first half, a 19-point eruption that surely had horns honking back home in Minnesota.
CASHHHHHHHHHHHH.
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 15, 2023
“He’s got a lot of confidence in his 3, he’s been shooting it well this year,” Finch said. “But he’s been doing a lot more than that. He gives us another gear in transition. His off-the-dribble game has been great. Driving and kicking even. Absolutely huge and it also helps us survive nights that are tough for Anthony and we’re missing scoring there.”
Alexander-Walker also pitched in 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting in the half, pulling Minnesota to within 60-59 at the break, setting up another dominant third quarter.
The Mavericks lost the second quarter 33-30 then dumped the third 28-22. All the offensive flow that had catapulted them up the standings on a four-game winning streak disappeared. They went 1 of 9 from 3, shot 38 percent in the third and turned the ball over five times. All of those things were uncharacteristic for a team that led the NBA in 3-pointers made and fewest turnovers, averaging fewer than 12 per game. But when a team is getting squeezed like the Timberwolves can squeeze them, it often can do uncharacteristic things.
All of those 3s that fell against the Lakers started to clang off the back iron. They were a stunning 1 of 14 in the second half. And yes, there is some shooting luck that comes with numbers that inept. But this is no coincidence for the Wolves defense. It is happening all of the time now.
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Dante Exum was 7 of 9 from deep against the Lakers, who decided to dare a historically inaccurate shooter to beat them. And he did. But he only got three long-range shots off against the Wolves, who rotated out to contest with ferocity. Tim Hardaway Jr. was 5 of 10 on 3s against the Lakers but 0 of 7 on Thursday night against Minnesota. Just one of those nights? Maybe. Or maybe it’s not an accident that opponents are hitting 33 percent of their 3s against them, which is third-best in the league.
The Mavericks had scored at least 120 points in six of their last seven games. But they managed just 41 points in the second half against Minnesota. A team that averaged fewer than 12 turnovers per game this season committed 10 of their 16 in the second half, trying to make the perfect pass through the thorns and brambles of Minnesota’s defense.
In the first half, the Wolves posted a defensive rating of 120.4 while Dončić racked up 26 points, eight assists and three turnovers. In the second half the rating plummeted to a microscopic 78.8, with Doncic putting up 13 points, five assists and five turnovers. The Mavericks star still finished with 39 points, but the Wolves made him work for every single one. And by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the squeezing proved to be too much.
Watch Dončić discover what happens when he is a little too nonchalant on a pass to Lively. Rudy Gobert, who had eight points, 12 rebounds and five assists, steps out to force the steal, which leads to an easy dunk from McDaniels.
Rudy ➡️ Ant ➡️ Slim
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 15, 2023
Watch Dončić throw his patented cross-courter to the corner and then hang his head in disbelief when Edwards is somehow right where he needs to be to intercept it, leading to another Reid 3-pointer.
yes indeed…
NAZ REID.
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 15, 2023
Watch the rookie Lively, one of the league’s most violent young dunkers, think that he is in the clear when he slips behind Gobert to the rim, only to discover that McDaniels has both the guts and the fortitude to challenge him … and win.
BLOCKED BY SLIM. 🔒
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 15, 2023
“We kind of came out at halftime with the mindset to have our foot on their throats,” said Reid, who finished with 27 points and tied a franchise record with seven 3s off the bench. “Just the maturity standpoint to handle business and keep it business-like.”
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The Mavericks were playing without Kyrie Irving, Seth Curry and Maxi Kleber. But it was essentially the same team that blitzed the Lakers because Curry scored three points in 12 minutes of that game before leaving with an injury. Given the way this game started and the roll the Mavericks had been on, it stands as one of the Wolves’ most impressive victories of the season.
Towns had 21 points and 17 rebounds, five of them on offense against the smaller Dallas frontcourt. Edwards had only nine points but dished out 11 assists, including the backbreaker to Mike Conley with 3 minutes, 23 seconds to play.
THAT'S JUST BEAUTIFUL BASKETBALL, FOLKS.
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 15, 2023
The Wolves went from down 15 to up 22 in the fourth, improving to 18-5 on the season. It was the sixth time this season the Wolves have come back to win after facing a deficit of at least 10 points. Their 6-5 record in those games is the best in the NBA.
They remain the only team in the NBA that has yet to lose two games in a row. And they did it on Thursday night even though Edwards was 3 of 19 from the field. His passing and defense meant that the Wolves outscored Dallas by 20 points in his 34 minutes.
By the fourth quarter, the defiance in Dončić’s eyes was gone. All that was left was a frustrated and crestfallen star who succumbed to the pressure the Timberwolves never stopped applying.
Kyle Anderson strips Luka Doncic, leading to the transition foul on Naz Reid
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) December 15, 2023
“We’ve got a lot of weapons and a lot of different ways we can win,” Towns said. “Tonight was just a different way for us to win.”
(Photo of Naz Reid and Karl-Anthony Towns: Tim Heitman / Getty Images)
